What Makes an Amazon Prime Commercial Impossible to Scroll Past?

Amazon Prime commercials are standing out in a landscape where most OTT ads still rely on promotions, product shots, and platform features.

Instead of selling a subscription, an Amazon Prime commercial now behaves like a short film, built around emotion, human moments, and narrative tension. This shift is intentional. It reflects Amazon’s bet that long-term loyalty is shaped not by urgency-based messaging, but by how deeply a viewer connects with a story.

The impact is visible. Prime Video’s ad-supported tier grew from 200 million monthly viewers in April 2024 to 315 million in November 2025, suggesting that story-first advertising may be more effective in capturing and holding audience attention. As OTT competition intensifies, Amazon’s approach signals a larger shift: viewers are rewarding ads that feel less like marketing and more like meaningful, cinematic experiences.

Below is a case study on how Prime structures its commercial strategy using three primary campaigns.

1: “It’s On Prime” (worldwide) directed by Olivia Wilde

The new advertising campaign “It’s On Prime” creates a new discussion about how Prime plays a role in creating small yet important moments of problem-solving.

This is through imaginary storytelling, chronicling how people experience and deal with small barriers in everyday life. The campaign features character-driven stories, such as the T. Rex story, where a young girl purchases extra-long arms to feel more confident when dressing up for Halloween. 

Rather than focus on the product’s features, the creative aspect focuses on how Prime changes the emotional connection. A consumer has to overcome that barrier by showing that Prime assists people in overcoming their barriers in ways that are more compassionate (human) rather than just transactional. 

The insight behind the campaign is the understanding that consumers will not form a connection to a platform solely based on its usefulness. But rather, it will create connections with platforms based on how that platform will assist them in expressing themselves. And/or feeling more comfortable in their environment.

Thus, the platform and service will have a better chance at becoming memorable than any other standard retail advertisement. 

2: Prime changes everything

The Prime is changing everything campaign takes familiar fairy tales and historical figures. And shows how they might have turned out differently if they had access to a Prime membership.

Through using fairytales and fairy-tale characters to show the benefits and convenience of using a Prime membership. The campaign creates an emotional connection with consumers. In one of the ads, Rapunzel uses Prime’s fast and free Same-Day Delivery service to order the ladder that allows her to escape from her tower.  

This represents Prime as the enabler of freedom and independence. In a second ad, Cleopatra watches a film on Prime Video and then uses the delivery benefits of Prime to send gifts to her people. This emphasizes Prime as a means of creating opportunities for leadership and self-sufficiency. 

By utilizing some of the most recognizable characters and stories from our childhoods. Prime Is Changing Everything campaign creates an imaginative and aspirational connection between Prime and its users. With Prime, the possibility for every consumer to live out their wildest dreams becomes a reality. 

3: #SachMeinTooMuch (India-specific campaign)

This is a regionally directed initiative for the Indian marketplace called #SachMeinTooMuch (Too Much is True).

In this campaign, Prime will showcase the diverse range of services offered through Prime. Members of Prime have access to shopping convenience, entertainment, and savings, along with the benefit of quick delivery services. All of which can enhance their experiences and provide opportunities to make those ordinary times in their lives something extraordinary. 

For example, this campaign features two films: the first depicts a movie night on Prime Video, where family and friends bond together. The second represents a young lady receiving her shoes or speakers, using Same Day Delivery Service. And enjoying an everyday drive to an outing with her grandfather while listening to music on Amazon Music. This campaign is culturally relatable to small-town Indian families and highlights not only the relationships within families.

But also all of the wonderful everyday experiences that members of small towns have. Prime offers a lot of value to members beyond just discounts or product offerings.  

Why Amazon Prime Commercial hit harder than any other OTT campaign

The Amazon Prime commercials are not focused on using expensive or on-trend products or flashy visuals.

They take a human-centric approach to advertising. The brand aims to connect with people by showcasing how they resonate with others’ lives and the stories they share. All campaigns use very similar insights, specifically that the viewer relates much more to a campaign when Amazon Prime is featured as a supporting character to life events rather than being the main character of the story. 

 Each campaign uses three different elements of storytelling:

•  Relatability: The campaigns demonstrate how everyday people face the same kinds of struggles and life events that the viewer has (or will face in the future). They show that they are not alone in having those feelings. 

•  Emotional Resonance: The campaigns connect with the audience through feelings of pride, happiness, and empowerment, rather than focusing on the features or pricing of the product. 

•  Subtle Brand Integration: The campaigns are approached from an advertising perspective; they include the product, but do not make the product the central focus of the story. Instead, the narrative is built around the product. 

These elements enable Amazon to create a memorable advertising experience in an already saturated OTT advertising space, where the majority of its competitors are creating loud, “in-your-face” advertisements focused on the features of their products.

The advertising stories created by Amazon continue to create positive experiences, promote sharing, and encourage engagement by making people feel seen and understood.  

Cut to the chase

Amazon Prime provides more than just merchandise; it creates meaningful experiences. Ordinary, relatable events are transformed into significant Stories through Amazon Prime’s capabilities. Watch additional mini-movies and learn how everyday items can be associated with lasting memories by visiting Prime Video and discovering the full potential of your purchase through the Amazon Prime experience.